As you may know, the U.S. government is facing a shutdown due to the end of funding. As a result, the Earth Observatory site will not be updated for the duration of that shutdown (and may not be available at all) which may begin tomorrow, Saturday April 9.

We hope that there will be a quick resolution to this crisis and we thank you for your continued patronage."

Basically, there's been a standoff about the budget for the entirety of 2011, and we've been squeaking through on temporary budgets. There was a complete impasse between the Democrats and Republicans over the budget bill, which had a lot of extras attached - like cutting all funding to Planned Parenthood. So I'm inclined to blame the GOP, but then I'm liberal.

But they've passed an actual budget this time (I think), and passed an hour before deadline of "everything stops".

It's not the repulbicans blocking, it's harry Reid not taking it to vote.

Wasn't there supposted to be a budget established last year as required by law, but it wasn't done. Hpw could that have happened? It was a party majority, so how hard could thathave been? Why would they not want to pass a budget with a party majority? Where is the leadership on this mess? Just wanna know.

I'm very pro-choice and I would love for Planned Parenthood to get off the Federal money, because if you don't take Federal money, they have less hold over you. I would love to see Planned Parenthood funded solely by private donors so if even more Conservatives get elected, they can't threaten to cut them off because they aren't taking any money.

The big problem is that Clinton, when president, could have done something about abortion rights and accessibility, but wimped out and kicked it to the states to individually decide, which is why you have South Dakota instituting this 72-hour waiting crap law.

Don't think that Republicans are automatically anti-choice. I'm a Republican, but I'm pre-Reagan Republican. Before Reagan came along, Republicans were pro-choice (and so was Bush the elder) until Reagan made him an offer to join him as VP on the 1980 ticket unless he changed from pro-choice to pro-life. Reagan was the one who got the Conservatives in the South, who traditionally voted for Democrats and were anti-civil rights and pro-life, to switch to the Republican party. In the 60's, it was the Republicans who pushed through the Civil Right Act and the Democrats in the South who fought it.

So where the whole GOP and women's reproductive rights thing comes in, you can say it's Reagan's fault. He was a religious man who latched on to those evangelical preachers who railed against a woman's choice.

Barry Goldwater, who was a Republican Senator from Arizona back in the 50's-80's was the classic, old school Republican, which is now called Libertarian.

To quote from wikipedia: By the 1980s, the increasing influence of the Christian right on the Republican Party so conflicted with Goldwater's libertarian views that he became a vocal opponent of the religious right on issues such as gay rights and the role of religion in public life.

Thankyou for the clarification. But I'm not sure I understand why cutting the space exploration budget would shut down a website that seemed purely educational and info-sharing? Could they have pulled the plug on NASA completely?

No, I'm sorry, I was kind of confusing there: I was more addressing that first comment here, which I presume was about "Obama shutting down NASA," which is one of the rumors flying around since he proposed that budget. The site you posted about was thinking they would be down due to the issues in that second comment up there, about the budget standoff. But they reached an agreement at the 11th hour, so it should be fine.

It's on both parties. Nobody understands "negotiations" and both parties have spent pretty much out of control.

The Conservatives spent insanely on the war, and then the Dems got to power and ignored that we'd spent insanely on the war, didn't stop the war, and tried to fix corrupt domestic programs by dumping money into them which works about as well these days as giving aid to corrupt third world nations in terms if the needed items actually getting to the poor and doing good (oh look another several 100,000 has gone missing!).

Then "We stole the Tea Party name but really have nothing to do with the platform of that movement and are in fact the conservatives you voted out re-branded" conservatives got re-elected and started trying to "save" the budget they destroyed by doing shit like trying to shut down planned parenthood and public broadcasting and other such things.

And then both "Re-branded stupid Neo-Conservatives" and the "We don't understand what 'broke' means Democrats" refused to agree on a budget, as of last night (because this changes rapidly)we don't actually have the budget to run our own government(but lets start a third war sorry "military action") so they may have to shut down all "non-vital" spending (which one time included military pay, though I think they've changed that).

Congress of course is still "vital" so they get paid.

So yeah, I'd honestly put it in both parties laps, but IMHO with most of it being on the Bush Administration who started the pointless war in Iraq and gave tax cuts to the rich then on CEO's who acted unethically and caused the 2008 economic recession, which is also what really hurt us then on democrats who I just feel like focused on the wrong issues at the wrong time (health care important yes, but that's literally all they focused on in 2009 while our economy crumbled and you can't provide healthcare for anyone IF YOU ARE BROKE). So that let the situation get to this point, and then Fake Tea Party people come in and blame liberal spending, which is bullshit.

Sorry this all make me ranty ^^

But anyway, that's why Nasa would have to shut the website down for a bit. Because the money isn't there for the servers.

No, not really the GOP/Tea Party. The Democrats were supposed to pass a budget last OCTOBER, just before the November elections, but they decided to be chicken shit and not pass a budget because that would put the Democrats who were in risk of losing their seats to Republicans, so they wimped out and deiced to play the mañana game. The Democrats still lost the House and the new Representatives elected in were elected by their constituents to stop this endless spending crap and cut, cut cut. They did as the voters asked and the Democrats balked.

But a budget agreement was reached at the 11th hour last night, but Obama still cut NASA.

yesterday they mentioned how *THANK GOD* the Clean Air agency was saved of being banned/ suffer cuts because it ended 60/50 in favor of the agency.

and it made me go into a full rage mode because the "excuse" been thrown around of WHY they wanted to cut down/ban the clean air agency was "because it would take jobs away"

which A. is absolute rubbish B. would you like to die of lung cancer and still have your job? I wouldn't *not jobs are crucially important in this economy, But at the expense of PUBLIC HEALTH* C. another excuse they threw around is "but what the agency does is not significant because OTHER countries are not doing stuff, so it changes nothinggggg"*curses and swears*

Fortunately that side lost

but I sure hope and pray they either A. stop it with these cuts already because it's causing more problems that will solve or B. if some of these horrendous cuts go throught, that they can be reversed later, before they cause a total meltdown to the agencies that got cut.

Good God and I thought things in the South American government were bad *except Chile lucky them in that regard* were bad, granted over there they are worse, but i thought the US government was immune to this level of greed and stupid.

Don't worry. The GOP caved. The GOP won't be around to rub it's hands together with insect glee while it tries to poison you with malicious purpose. It lost the will to destroy everything fluffy and cute and good. It threw the evil Emperor Tea Party into the power core, and will now die in peace to be roasted on a funeral pyre by lit by Reid and Obama, while Ewoks feast of food grown White House's organic garden.

The 'problem' (as I see it) is that 'we' (American Government) are spending more than we take in. There's lots of fingers to point and blame... but fact is... we're selling our souls to the people who hold the I.O.U.'s for funding the ridiculous deficit (which is due to a hell of a lot more than the War in Iraq...)

Meanwhile... we continue to spend on various stuff that has been promised to all kinds of 'important' projects over the years. We'll soon find ourselves like all those South American countries 30 years ago... with meaningless 'currency'.

Whatever the reason... I'm really ready to go live in a cave until the Chinese take over (the reported major purchasers of U.S. Treasury debt).